An Enemy Of The People Haussmannization Essay

In late 19th century Paris, cafés-concerts (best described as “glorified beer halls” (Clark 206)) were a very popular destination for the people of Paris. Cafés-concerts became an integral part of Parisian social life, as they were visited by hundreds of people each night, regardless of class. A bar at the Folies Bergère became the topic of Edouard Manet’s last painting, as Manet tried to portray the new, “modern” Paris, and the introduction of mass production during this time. A Marxist art historian, T.J. Clark finds this particular painting important because it revealed a lot about the new, modern Paris, and Manet’s intentions with the painting. Clark focuses more on the emergence of the new social class during this time, and how this affected the role of women in Paris. The painting, A bar at Folies Bergère, has historical significance because of how it depicts modernity in the context of the emergence of a new social class (the petite bourgeoisie), the introduction of mass production, and the changing role of women.

The life of a lady in the 19th century is painted in a romantic light. Pictured in her parlor, the lady sips tea from delicate china while writing letters with a white feathered quill. Her maid stands silently off in the background, waiting for orders to serve her mistress. What is not typically pictured, is the sadness or boredom echoed on the lady’s face. Perhaps the letter is to a dear friend, not seen in ages, pleading with the friend to visit, in hopes that the friend will fill the void in the lady’s life made from years spent in a loveless marriage; or possiblyk20 the lady isn’t writing a letter at all, but a novel or a poem, never to be read by anyone but her. Edith Warton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, are 19th Century ladies who dare to share their writing with the world. Through their works, the darker side of a woman’s life in the late 1800’s is exposed. Gender politics in the 19th dictates that a lady is dependent on her husband for her financial security and social standing; that is if she is fortunate enough to marry at all. In Edith Warton’s The House of Mirth, Lily Bart is a beautiful woman in her late 20’s, who fails to marry a wealthy man. The narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper slowly goes insane under her physician husbands misguided attempts to cure her of depression. The downfall of Lily Bart and the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper is

Madame Reisz is the representation of the social consequences of insisting on a developed self. Though she is a talented artist, she is also depicted as disagreeable and rude. Unsurprisingly, she is often alone. By contrast, the Ratignolles are a prime example of the Victorian family. Adele is a living bourgeois picture of a woman and, along with her husband, represents the expected patriarchal family: “The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever the fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely in their union”. Madames Reisz and Ratignolle “not only represent important alternative roles and influences, but they suggest different plots and conclusions.” Although Edna can embrace neither of these extremes, she does not. The narrator’s point of view is not explicitly judgmental, but Edna lies between the two extremes and one seems to be portrayed in a much more positive way than the other, as we notice by the descriptions granted to both female characters. Reisz is the antithesis of Adele Ratignolle, who is the “embodiment of every womanly grace and

During the nineteenth century, Paris further developed into the entertainment capital of the world. Alistair Horne, the author of the Seven Ages of Paris, vividly illustrates several historical moments that occurred in Paris. Through the horrors and triumphs, Paris was able to endure through it all for ages and still emerge greater than before. In comparison, Vanessa R. Schwartz, the author of Spectacular Realities: Early Mass Culture in Fin-de-siècle, demonstrates how the explosive popularity of the boulevard, the newspapers, wax museums, panoramas, and early cinema led to the creation of a new culture in Paris. Driven by consumerism, a cultural revolution was happening, who’s new culture transcended gender and class divisions. Both authors

“Le Cygne” is a poem by Baudelaire, published in the “Tableaux parisiens” of “Fleurs du Mal. Between 1853 and 1870 the city of Paris underwent vast amounts of renovation by order of Napoléon III. It included the destruction of many poor and unhealthy old neighborhoods to be replaced by avenues, parks, squares and large boulevards. Many of the writers at the time where unhappy with these changes and “Le Cygne” can be read as Baudelaire’s reaction to these changes which make him feel alone and lost in this new city. In my commentary, I will suggest that Baudelaire attempts to create a virtual encyclopedia of exiled individuals, and thus have felt similar emotions to that of Baudelaire’s response to the changing city. The poem is also dedicated to Victor Hugo, who at the time of the poem was in exile on a channel island. I will first try and explore the meaning behind the different stories in the open. I will then try to understand how each of these stories share a certain type of parallel or similarity in the terms of the emotions felt, and finally what the main themes of the poem are altogether.

Women in the 19th century were at a disadvantage, they were considered to be the second-class citizens. The main character’s, Elinor and Marianne, were easily influential based on

It’s important that we understand the dichotomy of Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge. Both are separate, complex (and in some cases, simple) creatures. The most obviously identifiable similarity between the two is that they are women. Lucie, feminine, sensitive, and kind is in complete antithesis to the dark, masculine Madame Defarge. Lucie recalls men to life and Madame Defarge sentences them to death at “La Guillotine”.

Lucie Manette is submissive and passive, of which is expected of an ideal woman from a patriarchal lens. Dickens’ favors the femininity of Lucie, which entrenches the belief that all populations of women are nurturing, caring, tender, and kind, in other words, an “angel. In doing so, he supports the ideologies of patriarchy and the contention that women’s sole purpose is to provide life, thus women become a tool for men of which masculinity can exploit. One might object here that Dickens actually indicts the patriarchal system by including a women character, Madame Defarge, of whom strays from the archetypal female. However, Dickens’ favors Lucie Manette over Madame Defarge, as she fits the portrayal of a “good woman” of whom remains concerned only with domestic issues, not political conflicts.

The art capital of the world began in Paris, France where artists were given free reign and creative development to indulge their psyches without fear of odious disparagement that would damage their careers. Paris as a city, as well as an art center, experienced prolific transformations and developments in the nineteenth century that allowed these innovative ideas to prosper. These alterations can be expounded in depth via the economic, technological, and sociological aspects of each. Through the persona and exploration of the well-known writer, artist, and critic, Charles Baudelaire, these innovations can be expatiated and exemplified.

From the sacrifice Sydney Carton makes in order to guarantee Lucie’s happiness, to Alexandre Manette’s metaphorical resurrection after being imprisoned for eighteen years; the most prominent

Her confinement atop the stairs away from anyone and or other parts of the house is symbolic of how nineteenth century women were kept from participating in the poignant parts of society’s progression. Women were restricted to stagnant menial servitude behind domestic walls. Men controlled most aspects of their marriage, as well as creating laws and social practices that oppressed the activities of women outside of their homes. Women of the nineteenth century were not allotted the same autonomous opportunities as men of the era and often were forced to settle for trivial endeavors that did little to truly express or nourish their intellect. A woman’s contribution to nineteenth century society was often minimized or deemed unnecessary outside of facilitating what her husband wanted to accomplish.

Streets are precarious to wayfare through this surprisingly lighthearted morning. Mood is a brightening one for Madam Defarge, “Madame Defarge sat observing it, with such suppressed approval...with her arms folded, sat in the morning light and heat, contemplating the wine-shop and the street”, for she showing a glimmer of humanity here, in this moment, as a perfect representation of Saint Antoine. Madame Defarge, specifically, embodies three key components of this derelict neighborhood. Firstly, she is an observer, an obvious quality the physical city retains as the permanent guardian of it’s citizens. There isn’t an action undertaken Saint Antoine does not witness. “The image had been hammering into this for hundreds of years, and the last finishing blows had told mightily on the expression”, explicitly stating the longevity and endurance of

The eighteenth century was an era where a woman’s role in society consisted of specific expectations. Women were often held to a higher double standard and were shamed in the public if they did not confide to the standards. During this time a woman was being judged by three distinct characteristics; wealth, beauty and virtue. A woman who was in possession of these qualities were the most desirable. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope, and the “Epistle from Mrs. Young to Her Husband” written by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu are both works of literature discussing the controversial issues revolving a women’s sexuality and desires. Where the value of a woman in society is being displayed through her reputation and double standards. Both pieces of literature allow the reader to examine society’s view on women though a female’s perspective.

In a time of orthodoxy and strict social order, a woman known as the "Brinvilliers woman" stirred the conscience and tongues of all of Paris with her infamous murder of her family members. Employing a fairly objective tone and diction, Madame de Sevigne organizes this private letter to two parts: the facts of the Brinvilliers Affair and the social ripples it created in order to fully depict to the reader the paradoxical feelings that a radical criminal can invoke.

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) explains the effects of power on society in his quote, “Power, like a desolating pestilence, Pollutes whate’er it touches”. Shelley compares power to a disease, almost like a plague that can eradicate an entire town. In whom this power is bestowed upon will desecrate the entire society around them. On the contrary, this quote is challenged as well as defended in the novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Characters such as both Monseigneurs St. Evremonds and Madame Defarge embody strong aristocratic or noble roles that have radicalized France.